What is palliative care?
Palliative care is treatment, care and support for people living with a life-limiting illness. A life-limiting illness is an illness that can’t be cured and that you’re likely to die from. Life-limiting illnesses can include:
cancer
motor neurone disease
end-stage kidney disease
dementia
Palliative care also supports your family and friends.
The aim of palliative care is to help you have a good quality of life. This includes making sure you get the care you need to live well. It can involve:
managing your physical symptoms such as pain
emotional, spiritual and psychological support
social care, including help with things like washing, dressing or eating
help for families to come together to talk about sensitive issues
support for people to meet cultural obligations
counselling and grief support
referrals to respite care services
How does palliative care differ from other types of care?
Palliative care is not the same as end-of-life care. You can receive palliative care at any stage of your illness. You can also continue treatment for your illness while you are having palliative care.
What is end-of-life care?
End-of-life care is the care and services given to people and their families who are facing the end of their life. End-of-life care is an important part of palliative care.
End-of-life care is for people of any age. It often involves bringing together a range of health professionals to help you to live out your life as comfortably as possible.
Wherever possible you can have end-of-life care where you and your family want. This can be at home, in hospital, in a hospice or a residential aged care facility.
Who is palliative care for?
Palliative care is for people of any age who have been diagnosed with a serious illness that cannot be cured. This includes children and young people, adults and the elderly.
When you start palliative care depends on the stage of your illness. You may need to start palliative care not long after getting your diagnosis. This can often help you and your family deal with your diagnosis. Or you may not need it until your illness progresses. You can also have other treatments by different doctors even when you are having palliative care.
Having palliative care doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re likely to die soon. You can receive palliative care for years if needed.
Who is in the palliative care team?
The palliative care team can include many health professionals to help you and your family manage your illness. These include:
doctors and specialists
nurses
social workers
physiotherapists
occupational and speech therapists
psychologists
trained volunteers
Department of Health
(Australian Government)